Gardening, Line Dancing, and Hiking

 Some days, when the weather is fine, I start a little job in the garden, only to realize later that I spent the entire day out there. It makes me happy to tidy up the mess from winter, spread mulch, plant seeds, and divide perennials. Then I sit on the bench and try to get creative, but my garden rarely changes. 


Week 2 of Line Dancing went well and it looks like my neighbor-friend Annette will join next week. Yeehaw! 

Again, I barely managed to meet the biking challenge with a late second ride this month. I ignored biking on the many warm days thinking there would be many opportunities. The month flew by and I realized it had to be Thursday or a cold, wet ride on the weekend. Thursday it was for a 15 miler on the hills.

Cat and Thomas loop hike was on the training agenda for Friday. Two peaks was not easy but still doable for us. The total hike was 7.7 miles, 1640 ft elevation, and took us 4 hrs and 45 min. The challenging part was climbing the second peak near the end of the hike when we were already fatigued. Usually all the uphill is in the first half of the trek, then downhill all the way back. We were up and down the whole way. Both peaks had gorgeous views of Lake George, this time from the west side and seeing the mountains of Vermont in the background. There was a lot of varied terrain as well - hemlock walks, ponds, rock scrambling up cliffs, pine forests, and of course the rocky tops. 

An Adirondack pond.



Panorama from the summit of Cat Mtn. We could see Black and Buck Mtns across the lake which we climbed in the last 2 weeks.

Lunch view on Cat. This time Ann Marie got a black fly bite on her forehead. We'll have to hike elsewhere for the next month. A single bite is a pain, but when they attack in droves it's best to stay out of the mountains. 


Looking down the slope we were in the middle of climbing...

... and the rocky slope above. This was about the 10th climb of the day.


Based on the dates, this seems to be a memorial for someone at the top of Thomas.

View of Cat Mountain on the right and Lake George from the summit of Thomas.

We had a nice meal at the Adirondack Brew Pub in Lake George - the Vanilla Stout was a perfect post hike beverage.

We were glad to be out on such a beautiful day. The forecast for the next week is clouds and rain so we may have to take a hiking break until the weather improves.

2023 Biking Challenge (1000 miles and 2+ rides per month)
Jan: 1/8 - 18 mi, 1/29 - 12 mi

Feb: 2/14 - 14 mi, 2/15 - 16 mi, 2/20 - 21 mi
 
March: 3/21 - 14 mi, 3/31 - 11.5 mi

April: 4/4 - 20 mi, 4/27 - 15 mi 

 
Total distance: 141.5 mi

Comments

  1. MargaretApril 29, 2023 at 1:13 PM

    What a gorgeous hike! (except for those black flies--I'm not familiar with them) I love all your activities and need to do some major weeding in my yard. Plus, my back lawn is ready for another mow. The grass is growing SO fast!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another Rainy Weekend

Image
Another rainy Saturday to contend with, so I decided on a Van Morrison playlist while I cleaned out the garage and danced and sang. My gardening supplies and planters and pots that need sorting and recycling  were cluttering up my space. They are now sorted and the garage is cleaned out for at least another week or so. I think the shed in the back yard needs to be a project to get it into a more useful state.  The amount of rain we've had is remarkable. May was one of the wettest months in eighty years and June is starting to look the same. I would rather have too much rain rather than a drought though.  After dropping around 3 inches of rain, the skies cleared up later in the afternoon. I loaded up my bike for an impromptu ride on the Electric Trail with the thought of dinner or ice cream at Samascott's.  The first of many turtles on the bike path. Now I see just how rough the path was and how I had no business riding on it.  The trail was very wet on the way s...
Read more

Summer Solstice

Image
Vroman's Nose overlooking the valley. Summer has begun! To mark the solstice, my hiking group held a picnic at the top of Vroman's Nose, which is a short little hike up a 657 foot hill. It overlooks the Schoharie Valley and has a beautiful rock 'dance floor' that easily accommodates our group of forty. The weather was a perfect 74 degrees with a breeze to keep any bugs away. A pleasant gathering on the dance floor near sunset. I drove Sue Ellen who had her gall bladder removed last week, and we hiked up with a guy who has spinal stenosis. As I listened to them discuss their ailments, I silently gave thanks for my health and thought about how 'mature' our group is becoming.  Once at the top, the party began with burgers and dogs, salads and desserts, and great conversation.  Most of our group made it into this sunset picture. Saturday started with me being woken up by my neighbors chatting down below in the street - it was garage sale day. I didn't join since...
Read more

There And Back Again,... Again

Image
  Centerway Square, Corning NY Sunday - I’m sitting at the Market Cafe with my cappuccino pondering the incongruity of everything being the same, but everything also being different, here in my hometown. Mostly I am the difference, rather my current circumstances are changed from all the previous walks here. I walk the same streets, visit the same sites, but because of my experiences, it’s all so very different now. I feel a big, ugly cry coming on, but I hope to save it for the drive home tomorrow - something I did for the past 10 yrs of trips here.  I’m staying in the hotel where I worked my very first job in high school and into college. I was a lifeguard at this pool every Saturday.  I’ll never forget pulling a little girl out, who was quietly drowning behind her mother. Watch those little ones closely! Monday - The reunion party was a wonderful success with absolutely zero drama among us seven siblings, a few cousins, and dozens of nieces and nephews and their childr...
Read more